The main character is Sam, a Baltimore shopkeeper who just wants a quiet life, and is resistant to taking either side in the impending conflict. Unfortunately, his younger daughter Mary is secretly the revolutionary pamphleteer Sparticus. Even more unfortunately, two Redcoats have been billeted with them. And just to complicate things further, the redcoat captain and Mary are instantly attracted to each other.

Other problems in Sam's life include his ex-wife, who is now living with another woman; his elder daughter Cora, who is married to a man she (and Sam, and everyone else) loathes; and his son Joshua, who has a habit of wrestling bears to death by accident.

Catch Phrase: Deconstructed. Sam suggests he could be a comic troubador, with the "comical catchy phrase" "Gadzooks! Here comes the harbourmaster!"

McGurk: But that's not funny. Sam: Not yet. It becomes funny after it's repeated thousands of times. And soon everyone's saying "Gadzooks! Here comes the harbourmaster!" McGurk: And that's funny, is it? I must be drunker than I thought.

Evil Versus Evil: The story makes it very clear that, with the exception of Mary, her friends, Brimshaw and possibly McGurk, both the British Army and the Rebels are composed primarily of scoundrels, thugs, mercenaries and thieves.

Gratuitous French: In one episode, Joshua attempts to sound sophisticated by adding gratuitous French expressions to his speech, despite having no idea what any of them mean (and thus invariably using them inappropriately). When Sam points this out, Joshua responds that everybody knows French is just decorative and it doesn't matter what the words mean — and anyway, he doesn't know what most words in English mean either, and he's never let that stop him.

Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Season One's episodes were variants on "Storm Clouds" ("More Storm Clouds"; "Even More Storm Clouds"; "A Helluva Lot Of Storm Clouds" and so on). Season Two did the same thing with "Trying Times".

Missing Mom: Elizabeth Oliphant. And as far as Sam is concerned, she should have stayed missing.

The Other Darrin: Three different actresses played Mary Oliphant and two played Cora.

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